Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

third eye kitty enclosed (homage to Schrödinger)

woodblock print 11" x 16"

Schrödinger's cat is a famous illustration of the principle in quantum theory of superposition , proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. Schrödinger's cat serves to demonstrate the apparent conflict between what quantum theory tells us is true about the nature and behavior of matter on the microscopic level and what we observe to be true about the nature and behavior of matter on the macroscopic level.

Here's Schrödinger's (theoretical) experiment: We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat. The observer cannot know whether or not an atom of the substance has decayed, and consequently, cannot know whether the vial has been broken, the hydrocyanic acid released, and the cat killed. Since we cannot know, the cat is both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer's paradox : the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. (That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.)

We know that superposition actually occurs at the subatomic level, because there are observable effects of interference, in which a single particle is demonstrated to be in multiple locations simultaneously. What that fact implies about the nature of reality on the observable level (cats, for example, as opposed to electrons) is one of the stickiest areas of quantum physics. Schrödinger himself is rumored to have said, later in life, that he wished he had never met that cat.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The figure here is displayed in a position of death inside a vessel represented in coffin form. It has taken the form of a fish, as well the shape of a rocket and also a vaginal womb. The scale/arrows signify that of a cyclical notion.

This piece was inspired by the Biblical tales for Rites of Passage. Just as Jonah spent 3 days inside of the whale (proper translation, "great fish") and to reemerge/rebirth as a new individual, Jesus spent 3 days within the tomb to emerge in a new transcendent form.

This print represents the transcendental cycle of man through life and death and the notion of transforming into that of higher forms.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Humanity is on the verge of a very exciting transition through the grand poetry of the cosmos called time.As we currently begin our exit out of the Age of Pisces, we thrust forward into the new era of Aquarius.As the mindset and way of life of the past 2000 years begins to fade away in the ever-growing shift of living, we must come to accept that the days of the old are becoming less relevant.

The major example of viewing this change can be seen through the major religions and philosophies of culture.Pisces’ most notable figure would be Jesus Christ whom is the symbol of the fish.On the opposite wheel of the zodiac, we find the virgin Virgo.Christ and Mary have been the forefront runners since the “ironic” date given to his birth.

Before Christ (or BC) was the Age of Aries, the ram.This age was sparked off when Abraham was to sacrifice his son, but instead offered a ram (Gen. 22:13).Opposite of Aries we find Libra, the scales, or the Law.Think Moses and the Ten Commandments, or even better, Hammurabi, the King of Babylon and his Code of Laws.

One more step further we have the Age of Taurus, the bull.Worship of bull deities was evident in both Sumeria and Egypt.Opposite we have Scorpio, often associate with the serpent in ancient days.This era came to an end when Moses came down from the Mount, to find those making idols of this previous Age, the bull, and thus presented the Mosaic Law.

Aries turned over into Pisces when Jesus was designated as the final Passover lamb (John 1:29).Christ the fisherman (ICQUS, Greek for “fish”)speaks of a man presenting his followers with a pitcher of water (Luke 22:10; Mark 14:13).This is the constellation of Aquarius.

“…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(Matthew 28:20). Some translations use the word “time” or “end of the world.”The correct term is aion, which means age.

Aquarius is a sign of intellect and pursuit of such.This can be relevant in the growing expansion of science and technology.It is an air sign, and can be seen in early glimpses of our expansion into space, and modern mythologies being created dealing with UFO’s.

This is very exciting knowing we are entering into an age of intellectual pursuit.However, Aquarius is less concerned with emotional sensual side and its opposite Leo, can be very dogmatic in nature.Apply this into the direction we are heading and we see Science becoming our new religion.The Aristotelian mindset which has ruled scientific understanding in its strictly rational guidelines, does not allow too much room for creative/imaginative theories and explorations.

We are in a moment of choice.Do we continue on our current path of putting our devotion into a coldhearted nihilistic faith of allowing technology and machines to lead us into the new Age, or do we become intellectual beings ourselves and focus our attention to the sky/stars?

Regardless of the decision we choose, the wheel will continue to turn, and our buildings of faith will crumble and be replaced by the new.Change is good, why not make it for the better?

Sunday, June 29, 2008

In 2006 I did my first image of The Tower. It was inspired by the concept of the Panopticon by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Its principle poetic idea was that the best way to control and oversee a society was done by an observer high upon the watchtower. No one can see the observer but the observer can see all. In other words, prisoners of society can not tell that they are being watched and surveyed as prisoners.

I of course strayed away from this political/Illuminati related allegory and placed into more of a mythical sense. Here the Tower represented God. The all seeing, high above and separate from those below. Alone, detached, and often forgotten, the Tower sits in silence and grows old watching those below carry on their lives. Becoming more of a monument of the past, society moves on. Yet still present and watching, He stands firm and overshadowing.

It wasnt until winter of 2007, while watching The Holy Mountain, did I notice something. The trump card of the Tarot depicting The Tower.

A card that signifies great change or "chaos" in ones life. The tower is being struck down from above, by God often depicted with the All Seeing Eye. Here now we have God destroying what was built, forcing a great change not only on oneself, but all surroundings.

The version I have created takes a similar yet different approach by combining these two concepts. The Tower is invocating the chaos from within (the word "god" actually derives its etymological source meaning "to invoke"). The original ancient idea of chaos was not this modern idea of uncontrolled devastation, but limitless possibility, the infinite. To invoke change, to invoke chaos, to invoke God, it must come from within. This is when boundaries, barriers, empowerment, laws of duality and restraint are broken down.